Man who broke baby's ribs by throwing him in air is jailed

Liam Simpson, of Edinburgh, has been sentenced to 13 months following the incident.

Edinburgh: People saw baby being thrown.
PA

A man who broke a two-month-old baby's ribs by repeatedly throwing him into the air has been jailed.

Liam Simpson, of Edinburgh, was sentenced to 13 months after the infant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sustained multiple rib and leg injuries and was taken to hospital

The High Court in Edinburgh heard doctors carried out X-rays on the tot and found he had sustained a number of painful injuries.

Medics concluded the boy's injuries were caused by somebody throwing him in the air.

Police launched an investigation and found evidence to prove that people had seen Simpson carrying out the activity.

Ordering the 22-year-old to be supervised by the authorities for 12 months following his release from custody, Lord Woolman said: "You handled him roughly and in consequence he suffered multiple rib fractures and a fracture of his left thigh."

'You handled him roughly and in consequence he suffered multiple rib fractures and a fracture of his left thigh.'

Lord Woolman

The story emerged after Simpson pleaded guilty in December last year to a charge of culpably and recklessly throwing the baby in the air at various locations in Scotland between December 28 2016 and March 17 last year.

After admitting the culpable and reckless conduct charge, the Crown accepted a not guilty plea to a charge which alleged he assaulted the same child to his severe injury and to the danger of his life on the same dates and at the same locations as the culpable and reckless conduct charge.

Prosecutors also accepted a plea of not guilty to a charge which alleged on December 8 2014, Simpson repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to a four-week-old child at a house in Edinburgh.

At earlier proceedings, prosecution lawyer Kath Harper told the court that witnesses were concerned by the way he threw the child into the air.

After the baby fell ill in March 2017, doctors concluded the infant had been deliberately injured and contacted police who immediately launched an investigation.

The child had multiple rib fractures and injuries to his tibia and femur.

Ms Harper said: "In these circumstances the fact that the baby had been thrown into the air and grabbed on the descent could explain the rib fractures.

"The fractures were caused by pressure or compression. Some of the fractures were positioned at the back where the baby would be held in such circumstances.

"Because of the number and age of the fractures the baby would have been thrown and caught on more than one occasion.

"The rib fractures would have caused the child pain and the child would not have been able to breath normally while the fractures were healing."

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